Beauty for Ashes
by mercy4vr
Summary: DL. Danny is seriously injured and has a conversation with Aiden, who helps him sort out whether he should fight to live, or just let go. My first fanfic, so please review and let me know what you think!
1. And So It Begins

**Disclaimer:** If I owned them, I would rent them out to the highest bidder and get really really rich. But since that isn't the case, don't sue me please.

**Summary:** Danny is seriously injured and has a conversation with Aiden, who helps him sort out whether he should fight to live, or just let go. My first fanfic, so please review and let me know what you think. Just so you know, I have the whole story written (3 chapters total) so the more reviews I get, the sooner I will post the remainder!

**A/N:** Special thanks and credit goes to Queen of Cliffies!! The scene you'll read with the badge was inspired and a few lines partially borrowed (with permission of course) from her fic "A Cop at Heart." Great story, highly recommend reading it. In mine though, Danny was unaware (like Danny being oblivious is a new concept, ha).

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_Thank God this day is finally over,_ Danny Messer thought as he kicked his apartment door closed behind him. After pulling three doubles in the past week exhaustion was starting to set in. Setting his pizza and six-pack on the counter, he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting the headache that had been plaguing him for what seemed like weeks.

_Well, it has been weeks since that…, that **talk** with Mont... no, Lindsay, he_ thought disgustedly, then picked up the pizza and headed into the living room. _What a friggin joke that was. I probably coulda handled that better. Tellin' her I'm not interested in a relationship, just drinks and a few laughs, who was I kidding, _and sighed audibly.

A soft noise broke the silence, and cop instinct made him freeze. _Come on, don't tell me I didn't lock the friggin door. This is so not my week._ He turned while reaching down to his side for his gun, but just then something heavy slammed into his head and the world went dark.

* * *

"Danny! Danny! Dammit, Messer, friggin pay attention, will you!" 

"Aiden, why dontcha just leave me the hell alone to die in peace!" he threw himself into a chair.

"We both know that isn't gonna happen, cause you ain't supposed to be here now."

_Great, I'm dying, and I get to sit here and be lectured by a dead chick. Of all the surreal …_

Aiden poked him hard in the chest. "I heard that Messer, things work differently here. What are ya doin' anyways? Why ya givin up like this?"

"Aid, I'm done in. I'm tired of all this bullshit. I just wanna sit here, with my friend, and let it go. What's so wrong with that?"

"Yeah, like you really think the big man is gonna let **you** in here with **your** track record, Danny-boy? Not without your saving grace." she shook her head. "You've gotta make things right, you can't just leave it like that."

"And just why the hell not, Burn?! You friggin did! You tamper with evidence, get fired, and dropped of the face of the earth, no drinks, no calls, no nothin, and then ta find out ya really did drop of the face of the earth! You call that finishing things?" He snorted with disbelief and anger.

"But I did, Danny" she said softly. "We got him. That bastard Pratt ain't gonna be hurtin anyone else, now is he?"

"Yeah, but at what cost, Aiden? First you lost your badge and then you lost your life" he choked out.

"As much as you say you wouldn't have, I know you'd have done the same thing. I paid a price, but in the end, it was worth it. There can be no doubt in this."

Danny sat back and shook his head still not believing it.

"Besides," she added, smiling coyly. "I got my badge back in the end."

He looked up at her in surprise. "What are you talking 'bout? The department never reinstated you before you, well before you, you-know" he stumbled out. _Man, am I ever articulate._

"Your Montana gave me back my badge."

He just gaped at her stupidly. "B-but, how? When?"

"She came to my funeral after the team left ya know…"

* * *

Lindsay walked up to the closed coffin after everyone had left; it would have been awkward to watch everyone else mourn someone she'd never known. Lindsay took the object she had in her pocket and gently ran a finger over Aiden's badge. 

"You got him, Aiden," she whispered. Aiden never gave up on trying to get D.J. Pratt. She had given first her job, and then her life to make sure that he was caught. Even when she knew she was going to die, she thought fast enough to leave a clue, something to put him away. That was how a true cop thought, that their life didn't matter as long as the bad guy went away. Aiden was a cop at heart, a detective, and a CSI, but most of all, Aiden was a hero.

It surprised Lindsay to feel warm tears sliding down her cheeks, crying for someone she'd never met. She realized though, that the reason she was crying was she'd never had the chance to meet such a wonderful person.

She murmured "To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. (Isaiah 61:3). They'll always miss you, Aiden, but I'll see what I can do about having them celebrate your life, rather than mourn your death." With a deep breath she placed Aiden's badge on top of the coffin before walking away.

* * *

"She gave me my peace, Danny. Your Montana is the one who made it so I could let go." 

Danny leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees, smiled with pride as his heart swelled. He shook his head. "Well, that Linds, she's somethin' else."

Aiden's eyes hardened and she gave him a look that had him leaning back away from her.

"Wha? What'd I say?"

"It's not what you said to me, it's what you said to her later. Do you remember how the team went out to the bar after the funeral? Everyone drinking and telling stories? You were well on your way to wasted when Lindsay showed up. She just sat there quietly listening to everyone's stories, and after one you told she told ya she wished she could have met me. Remember what happened next, Casanova?"

Danny ducked to avoid getting smacked upside the head and grimaced with the recollection.

* * *

"I wish I would have had a chance to meet Aiden, it sounds like she was a great person." 

Danny stood, swayed slightly but steadied himself with his hands flat on the table top, then turned on her and said hotly "Aiden was the best. She was a great person, and she was the best damn CSI and partner I could have ever had. And don't think that you're every gonna replace her with the team, 'cause you can't." His voice got louder until he was almost yelling "**You're not a part of this team. You can't replace Aiden!**" He pushed away from the table and strode to the bar to get another drink and cool down.

Lindsay tried to hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes. She knew that he was grieving, but the words still hurt deeply. After having moved so far from home, she kept getting the feeling that she was never going to belong to this team. It was as if she was destined to be alone in a city of millions.

Stella looked concerned. She reached out and touched her arm, "Lindsay, he's just hurt right now, he doesn't mean it like it sounded."

Lindsay forced a smile at her. "I know, Stell. He's had a rough time of it lately. I don't want to stir anything else up, so I'm just going to head out."

Hawkes chimed in, "You don't have to go anywhere, Linds, Danny'll deal with it."

"Really guys, its okay, I'm tired anyhow." Lindsay tried to smile at them, with little success. "I've got shift tomorrow, so I'll just turn in and get some rest. I'll see you later." She grabbed her purse and gave them a small wave, avoiding looking over at Danny who was still at the bar. She made her way to the door, trying to keep her steps slow so she wouldn't give into the temptation to run out as fast as her legs could carry her.

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**A/N 2:** Isaiah 61:3 in the Bible is actually more about freedom from oppression rather than mourning, when you read the chapter. However, I thought it was a beautiful verse, so I wanted to use it, even if it is a little out of context. I figured not too many people would recognize it right off the bat, so I could get away with it.


	2. And Then it Continues

**Disclaimer:** If I owned them, I would rent them out to the highest bidder and get really really rich. But since that isn't the case, don't sue me please.

**A/N:** Thank you for all the lovely reviews!! I find that they are addictive.

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Danny jumped up and began pacing with agitation. 

"God, I did that, didn't I? I've made good since then, though. Me 'n her, we were good." he said, raking his fingers through his hair. "At least I thought we were. We had this, this … thing, and it made it easier coming back to the job once you were gone, and then Louie and all. We got through it. She got me through it." He hung his head and looked at his feet.

Aiden didn't even try to contain it, she just busted out laughing. Danny's head jerked up in surprise and his eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Just what the hell are you laughin' at, Burn?"

"You, Danny-boy! This has got to be the friggin' funniest thing I ever seen. Who woulda thought, bad boy Danny Messer, in love with tha girl from the country. I knew I liked her." Aiden clutched her stomach, doubling over from laughter.

"Come on, Aid, I'm dying here!" _Well, that was a pretty dumb thing to say. Big whoop. Not like I care or anything._

Aiden's laughs subsided as she replied. "Danny, you do care, and that's why you're not done yet. You need to get your ass back there and take care of business."

"If you know all this shit, then you know what happened a coupla weeks back. She doesn't want what I want. I got that whole cliché 'its not you, its me' speech. Since then, it's like I'm working with a polite stranger rather than my friend. Love run cold and all that jazz." he said gesturing at the air with his hand. "When we processed the doctor's lounge at that hospital, I was close enough to her I could smell her hair and that vanilla-y stuff shampoo she uses, but I can't even get her to look me the eye. Plus, you know Mac still doesn't trust me, my family is spinnin' off all directions, nowadays, seems like all the relatives are starting their own families but me. Even Flack doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with any of us anymore. I just don't see the point. I'd rather just be done." He stopped pacing and looked away with a pained expression on his face.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and grabbed his chin roughly so she could pull his head up to where he was looking at her.

"Daniel Messer, don't go feedin' me that line of bull. I got you're number, and you're just full of it. Did you listen to everything she said when ya talked?"

"Of course I did, she said she couldn't be in a relationship with me, we've been over this," he muttered exasperatedly.

"Followed up by you saying you weren't talking relationship, just spending some time together , having dinner, drinks, a few laughs… Smooth one, by the way, what a way to work that Messer Magic …" She paused for a breath and Danny opened his mouth to retort, but Aiden interrupted him. "No, I ain't done talking yet, so chill. While she was explaining herself to you, she said she couldn't be in a relationship _right now_, she had some stuff to work out. Nowhere in there did she say never, Danny-boy. You told her she could come to you if needed, but ya didn't just give breathing room, ya gave her a hundred city blocks. You talk about the chilly atmosphere, but did ya try to keep things warm, or friendly even? When's the last time you called her Montana? Nuh-uh, you aren't gettin' away with blaming that one on her," she finished emphatically.

He appeared to be mulling over what she said, he wasn't arguing so she decided to push on ahead.

"As far as Mac goes, Danny, it's not that he don't trust ya, he's worried for you is all. Ya know he doesn't go in for all that emotional bullshit. He's just trying to keep an eye on ya to make sure you're doin' okay." Then she scoffed "Your family is Italian, they're always goin ta be procreatin' and expanding, that ain't gonna change with anything. Maybe if you worked on your Montana more, you could be part of that expansion in the next few years." Danny's head jerked up with that one, eyes wide.

"Me 'n Montana, a baby?"

"Hey man, ya think I can tell the future? I'm just saying you'll never know if you don't go back." She hesitated before adding "Flack needs you too you know. He's got it rough right now, working out some shit of his own, and what with you off in your own pity party…" she shrugged, "he's feeling alone in this, too. Ya need to look out for each other." She looked away. "Ya gotta look out for him for me," she said softly.

Danny sputtered "F-flack? You and Flack?"

"Messer, wipe that damn smirk off your face, it ain't like that. At least, well, it never had a chance to be like that. Back then, there wasn't any way that super-cop Don Flack Sr. would approve of Jr. taking up with the likes of me, so I kinda avoided the issue. I thought maybe in time something could be worked out, but then," she trailed off. "Then it was just too late."

"Aiden, I'm sorry, I didn't know." He placed his hand on her forearm. "God, you shoulda told me sooner."

"Well, you know how it goes. Ya think ya got all the time in the world, but then life happens. I wish I coulda had more time, but since the outcome means Pratt is off the streets, I wouldn't change it; it was worth it. You, though, you still got time. You can go back and make this right. She's your saving grace."

Danny backed away and started pacing again. "I don't know if I am strong enough for this anymore. There has just been too much bad shit happening, it just seems too much, sometimes."

"Beauty for ashes, Daniel." At his confused look, she said "Never mind, it's between me and your Montana. Ya know what's happening right now, while you've been whiling away the time with little 'ol me?"

He turned towards her. "What do you mean? What's going on?"

"After you got your hard head bashed in, Lindsay was a few blocks away, just finishing up at a scene, and she tried to call you. She's getting' tired of this game just like you are. When she couldn't get ahold of you, she asked Flack to give you a call, on the off chance you just weren't takin' her calls. When that didn't work the two of them headed to your place to check things out, 'cause it just didn't set right with 'em."

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**A/N2:** Chapter 3 begins with what happens when Lindsay and Flack get to Danny's apartment. You know the drill, the more reviews I get, the quicker the last chapter will get posted. So review away! 


	3. And Now It Ends

**Disclaimer:** If I owned them, I would rent them out to the highest bidder and get really really rich. But since that isn't the case, don't sue me please.

**A/N:** This is it, my loves! Final chapter!

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As they walked down the hallway, Flack was the first to note that Danny's apartment door was ajar. He put out his arm to stop her, as he pulled his gun from his holster with the other. He gestured her back behind him since she was unarmed. He would clear the scene first. He knew Danny'd have his head if he didn't keep his girl safe. 

_No matter how much they deny it, you can practically see the sexual tension ready to burst between these two, and I sure don't wanna be in the way when it erupts_, he thought.

Just as he neared the door it swung open, and a man can running out.

Flack didn't have time to bring his weapon up before the guy got to him, and the perp took the miniscule advantage to shove the arm with the weapon, causing Flack to momentarily lose his balance. That was all the time the suspect needed to get past him, headed right into Lindsay's path.

Lindsay didn't know yet what had happened in the apartment, but knew whatever it was that this was the guy responsible for it. She wasn't about to let him get away, regardless of being unarmed. He reached his hand out to push her out of his way and she grabbed his hand by the fingers and wrenched them backwards. When he faltered, she took her leg and wrapped it behind his knee, then pulled for all she was worth, taking herself and him down in the process.

It all happened in a matter of seconds, but that was all the time Flack needed to recover and get ahold of the suspect. He cuffed him as he lay on the hallway floor and then called for back up while Lindsay raced to Danny's apartment.

She stepped through the door and stopped in her tracks, arrested by the sight of Danny lying on the floor, in pool of his own blood. She shook off her terror at the sight and raced to his side to check for a pulse. It was there, but just barely. She yelled to Flack to call for a bus while she checked to see if he had any obvious injuries other than the head wound. Finding none, she stripped off her jacket and balled it up to press against his wound trying to staunch the flow of blood. Tears slowly began to fall as she tried to keep her composure; he needed someone who could remain calm to see to him till the paramedics arrived.

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Aiden began speaking again. 

"They've transported you to the hospital already. The doctor's say they've done what they could and it is up to you know whether or not you will wake up. They've told everyone if you don't wake up within the next few hours, you probably won't wake up at all. They're going to let Lindsay go in to see you in a minute. You should really make your decision, Danny-boy" she said gently.

"But, I can't just leave you here, Aid. You were one of my closest friends, and I didn't even realize how much you gave up." Danny said, his voiced lightly tinged with despair.

"Danny, I'm not going anywhere. I've gotten time for good behavior." she chuckled. "An eternity to be exact. I'll be here when you come back. B'sides, I need you to look after Flack for me. Find him some hot chick his pop will approve of. Of course, he'll still pine for me, but what's a girl to do." Aiden smiled wickedly. "Go, dammit!" She said, smacking him upside the head. "Don't ya hear your Montana calling for you?"

Sure enough, as she said that he could hear Lindsay's sweet voice calling his name. But she was crying, too. He could see her faintly, almost as though through a dream, next to a hospital bed, holding his hand tightly.

"Danny, please wake up, please. I need you. I'm sorry that I made you wait, I was just so scared. I'm ready to tell you all about it if you'll just wake up. Life's too short to hold back. Please wake up, Danny. I love you." She began to sob in earnest and laid her head on the bed by his arm.

Danny looked back to Aiden. "I've got to go to her Aiden; I can't leave it like this. I love her, I can't make her go through that."

Aiden wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight hug.

"You're making the right decision, ya know. It'll all come out right in the end. Hey, after all, she did say she loved ya."

"She did, didn't she?" He said in awe, as a grin began to spread across his face.

"Go on; get outta here, Danny-boy." Aiden gave him a shove to send him on his way.

As he turned to go, she called out to him one last time.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Yeah?" He said looking over his shoulder at her.

"It'll be a girl. You'll name her after me, and she'll make your life heaven and hell."

As the realization of what she meant hit him, the world faded out to white this time.

Aiden laughed to herself at the look of shock that had been on his face. Hearing a call, she looked up and said, "Alright, already, I'm comin', I'm comin'."

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**A/N2:** I hope that satisfactorily brings the story of my first fanfic to a close. However, if it leaves you feeling that you need more... Review, review, review and I might just hook the plot bunny up to an IV and a ventilator to try to revive him for a sequel. Lemme know! 


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